6 days ago
Philippe Clement lifts lid on Rangers boardroom 'total chaos' and reveals what really angered him about sacking
The Belgian was bulleted from his position following a disastrous Scottish Cup exit but at a time of turmoil for the club
Sacked Ibrox gaffer Philippe Clement claims his bid to rebuild Rangers was wrecked by 'total chaos' in the boardroom.
The Belgian boss was hired to replace Michael Beale in October 2023 - but he lasted just 16 months before being axed himself.
A catastrophic Scottish Cup exit at the hands of Queen's Park in February left the former Club Brugge and Monaco gaffer clinging to his job.
But the final straw came a fortnight later as Clement's side slipped up again at home to St Mirren, putting the nail in coffin of their already faint title hopes.
However, the 51-year-old believes his chances of surviving in the Ibrox hot seat were undone by turmoil around the directors' table.
Gers' preparations last summer were wrecked by a construction cock-up which forced the team to play the first month of the campaign at Hampden, while the club was left rudderless when both chairman John Bennett and chief exec James Bisgrove quit within weeks of each other.
"That's the frustration, the frustrating part of the story," Clement told BBC Scotland's Sacked in the Morning podcast.
"The first seven months, everybody was really happy about what happened in the club. There was a big change. But after that, a lot of things changed in the club and it became quite chaotic.
"I never had a club or saw a club where you don't have all these positions filled during a season for six or seven months. So a lot of things happened."
Clement - who has since been replaced by Russell Martin - expected to be given funds to challenge Celtic having pushed the Parkhead side close the previous season before a late collapse.
But he was shocked to learn the budget had been slashed having been given orders from the board to sell his top earners before he could buy in fresh recruits.
"They said we know we don't have the money that Celtic has for the moment," Clement added. "It was quite an old squad. So we know we're going to need four, five, maybe six transfer windows to gain money and to close this gap with Celtic.
"And it starts with getting young players in, develop them, make them better and sell them to build the club again where it should be.
"The board was afraid to say these things towards the fans because they were already very angry about the stadium issue. I was the only one speaking in the club because there was nobody any more."
Clement lifted a League Cup just two months after arriving in Glasgow but was left playing catch-up on Celtic for the remainder of his time at Rangers.
"There was a big difference about everything around the team, even maybe a bigger difference than on the pitch," he said, when asked about the gap between the Old Firm clubs.
"In preparation, in everything around the club, Celtic is much more organised than Rangers. And I was there for sure in these seven months where there was total chaos at Rangers."
Clement was binned with his team 13 points adrift of the Hoops. But he was left unhappy after learning through the media rather than the club that his time was up.
"It felt really empty," Clement said. "I was also angry that moment because all the journalists knew before me.
"I got a lot of messages from Scotland, England and Belgium even, before I get a message from the club, so I was not happy with that. That's not good.
"I told them also that it was totally disrespectful, that moment. But I felt really empty because you build something together in your full day and night with everything in the club.
"And I had to do much more than you normally should do as a manager in the months before when these positions were not filled in."
